Functional MRI in Patients with Cerebral Palsy to Evaluate the Efficacy of Intrathecal Autologous Bone Marrow Total Nucleated Cells

Velasco-Ruiz I, Cordero-Leija F, López-Quesada JC, Gonzáles-Llano O, Elizondo-Riojas G, Mercado-Flores M and Mancias-Guerra C

Department of Hematology, “José Eleuterio González” University Hospital, Mexico
Diagnostic Imaging Center, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico

^*Correspondance to: Consuelo Mancias-Guerra 

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Abstract:

Introduction: In recent years, bone marrow-derived cell therapy has resulted in an alternative treatment for patients with neurological disorders. Research in patients with cerebral palsy undergoing cell therapy has shown improvements in the functionality and quality of life of patients. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is an essential tool that may objectively evaluate the morphological changes in the cerebral tracts after this kind of intervention. Description of Cases: Three children with a medical history of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy were presented. These patients were treated with intrathecal autologous bone marrow total nucleated cells. All three patients demonstrated clinical improvements in their neurological functions. Additionally, fMRI was performed 6, 9, and 10 months, respectively, after the intervention. An increase in anisotropy fraction was observed when evaluated by specialized MRI radiologists, which correlated with their improvements. Discussion: It has been demonstrated that hematopoietic progenitor cells promote neurogenesis and angiogenesis in brain tissue affected by hypoxic-ischemic injury. This report seeks to add the idea of using fMRI to evaluate improvements after interventions where stem cells are used. However, it is necessary to extend the number of patients to determine if it is the best objective evaluation method for these patients.

Keywords:

Functional MRI; Cerebral palsy; Stem cell therapy; Clinical improvement

Cite the Article:

Velasco-Ruiz I, Cordero-Leija F, López- Quesada JC, Gonzáles-Llano O, Elizondo-Riojas G, Mercado-Flores M, et al. Functional MRI in Patients with Cerebral Palsy to Evaluate the Efficacy of Intrathecal Autologous Bone Marrow Total Nucleated Cells. Clin Case Rep Int. 2022; 6: 1426.